Sorry, Nikon, but 300 bucks for the camera feels just about right. But I guess it’s a good deal for someone who wanted to buy one for 600 anyways.

If it doesn’t fit my pocket, I might as well take my DSLR with me.

Global

Considering the D40 was about $400, then $300 for a smaller sensor with less build to it makes perfect sense.

I think you pretty much get “D40″ like quality out of the J3 (ignoring megapixels, because those have changed every year regardless).

I think a $300 J3 is TODAY’s $400 D40 — seems perfect.

Spy Black

Other than well-off Asian women, I still don’t understand who this system was supposed to be marketed to. It’s the most dysfunctional system design I have ever seen. It appears Nikon finally got a wake-up call and are going to finally turn this system (at least, the V) into something seemingly comparable to what’s out there on the market in it’s next incarnation, but I’m afraid the cavalry will come over the hill too late for the 1-Series.

MB

I wonder how stupid would have felt someone who bought J3 for 600$, fortunately there just isn’t anybody who did it.

Paulo Goulart

LOL, some time ago I’ve bought online a new V1 for €200 (great little cam for THAT price) and at that time they still cost more than €700 at the retail stores (right until the end)…

groucher

Same here. Also bought the 30-110mm lens and FF adapter for 5GBP using Tesco vouchers. The V1 is great for action photography and spectacular for low light videography.

whisky

i’d be surprised to see any massively “good deals” before x-mas. these are more like teasers to keep people checking the sale sites. to me, a good deal would be a firesale on the V2, or substantial rebates/discounts on the 6.7~13mm, 10~100mm, or 32mm f1.2 lenses. JMO.

Neopulse

the 32mm f/1.2 especially

DesertCat

The $297 single lens J3 kit or the $397 2-lens J3 kit seems to be the standard going rate in the U.S. right now. Many retailers had the prior rebates set to expire on Dec. 14th., so I specifically went to B&H, Adorama, Crutchfield, and few others right as the clock rolled over to Dec. 15th on the Eastern time zone. The extra $100 off of the previous rebates was automatic on many of those servers and spread to the rest within 8-12 hours. I would suggest these rebates aren’t some Deal of the Day but are just the current Nikon instant rebates.

What I was disappointed to see is that Nikon still refuses to budge one red cent on the V2 in the U.S. The single lens V2 kit is still being sold at the $897 price point that it started at in retail a year ago. If the U.S. shopper doesn’t care about the warranty, they can get it from Henry’s in Canada for $497. That’s right in the ballpark of what consumers in Japan have been paying for the last three months (anyone can check the price history at http://www.kakaku.com ). I guess Nikon just doesn’t want to sell many V2s in the U.S.

I note the change in the rumor from “New V3 at CES” to new N1 models in the first quarter of 2014. I hope the previous rumor was accurate as saving N1 announcements until the CP+ show makes me nervous that they are going to pull the same “Japan Only” stunt that Canon has done with the EOS M2.

http://nikonrumors.com/ Nikon Rumors

I was not aware that those were part of the current Nikon rebates – they were not listed on the rebate page. The V3 rumor changed because I did not get any other details since and this is not a good sign 3 weeks before CES. Maybe the N1 stuff will be announced in February for the CP+ show. I will have another post on that in the next few days.

DesertCat

No worries. You have to go with the info you have. Certainly better than anything I have. I’m just grumbly because I was hoping for some V2 price drops before Christmas. Not going to shoot the messenger.

I can certainly be wrong about these being Nikon instant rebates. If they aren’t, it means that Nikon decided to loosen their grip on J3 pricing and everyone ended up at a similar price point. That’s certainly possible.

Can’t Believe It

I wonder if they’re keeping the price high on the V2 as a way to retrain consumers like me who always wait to buy cameras because we assume the price will fall. Maybe they think I’ll be more willing to pay full retail for the V3 when it comes out if I can’t get a good deal on the V2.
The endless games Nikon plays, it’s like being married to a crazy spouse. Maybe I’ll switch to a 6×6 Rollei and produce my work via scanned film; for video I’ll use a Black Magic pocket cam. That should make my life easier.

DesertCat

You say crazy spouse, I think greedy little kid. Sometimes I get the impression Nikon is like the little kid that wants to sell one glass of lemonade for $50 instead of selling 200 glasses of lemonade for $0.50 a pop. If can just convince one person…

whisky

i doubt Nikon is in a hurry to repeat the fire sale they had on V1’s last year. this typically happens out of desperation like it did for the D2H, or the D600 lens kit. i could be wrong, but this time i have a feeling Nikon is more likely to whittle away at V2 stock by transferring or destroying their surplus inventory. Apple frequently did this rather than undercut the target value they set for their products.

Somewhere in some non-descript land fill in Oregon, there are mountains of Apple Lisa’s buried beneath the earth, as there are Kodak photocopiers in up-state NY.

Kynikos

1-series will not sell in N. American market unless it is priced like upper mid-range P&S.

Canon updated it’s M body for Asia only it seems, so it’s not just Nikon.

Spy Black

Trying to keep up with the competition LOL!

Jeff Curtner

The Polaroid is banned in US now.

Kynikos

A shrewd marketing ploy.
After all, if the government doesn’t want you to have something, it only makes you want it that much more

Spy Black

I took that shot at my local Walmart.

Jeff Curtner

US$300 for J3/10-30 kit seems to be the current going rate in Japan (See kakaku.com http://kakaku.com/item/K0000453269/?lid=ksearch_kakakuitem_image ) . V2 going rate in Kakaku is US$451 for white version of V2/10-30, and US$579 for twin lens white V2. Strangely though black version body only V2 is around US$539. I picked up my black V1 kit for less than US$250 earlier this year and I will go for the V2 if there is another fire sales.

Jeff Curtner

Last year I had an opportunity to visit Nikon’s Wuxi Factory in Easten China where the Nikon 1 bodies and lenses are made. There are close to 6000 workers in the factory at the time of visit, making mostly the Nikon 1 products and compacts (P310 and P510), plus some body parts of D4. Nikon was proud to tell us a J1 has only 183 parts whereas the V1 has 195. Surprisingly the 10-30 has 172 parts and the 30-110 165 parts. Most of the parts are either made in Nikon’s Thailand factory or nearby suppliers. The lenses which the Wuxi factory makes from grounding individual lens element to final assembly. They cameras are just to be assembled as PCB’s are already made elsewhere.

The Nikon 1 has fewer parts and simpler to be made and the factory is mostly un-automated. So it seems the BOM cost of the Nikon 1 system should be quite low, definitely lower than DSLR just by part count. It just doesn’t make sense for Nikon to price the Nikon 1 in such noncompetitive manner until end of life fire sales.

At the time of visit there were three assembly lines making J1 and one line for V1, plus untold lines making lenses. The factory workers do not live nearby the factory like many typical Chinese factories. Instead Nikon Wuxi uses close to 100 buses to shuttle them daily between the factory in suburb and the city residential area.

broxibear

I don’t know where to post this, so since this is the latest thread then this will have to do.

It’s the first hint anywhere I’ve seen about the D4s being announced in January 2014. During Jared Polin’s weekly news video, it’s around 17mins in, make of it what you will…
Search youtube for “He is ONLY 24 and is on ESPN!!!! RAWtalk Episode #065″ or “Jared Polin” it’s the latest video released…I don’t want to post the link incase admin (Peter) doesn’t want it up here.
To me it sounds as if Jared’s been told or has had aplay with the D4s, he made a similar comment about the Df before it was released…a not very subtle hint, lol.

Neopulse

If the D4s happens to be better a stop or 2 better (like the D3s did to the D3) than the current D4, than it’s going to be an insanely crazy low light camera.

broxibear

Hey Neopulse,
I use a D3, I bought it when the D3s was for sale too and the difference is not 1 stop, after 1600 the D3s was slightly better and at 3200 it was half a stop. The pure figures on sites like Dxo give the impression of a big gap, but in reality there isn’t.
It’ll be a fine tuned D4 with everything being a tiny bit better I reckon.

I’m interested to see if Nikon keep as much video capability in the D4s as the D4 or if they cut it back, reason being I still don’t see many using their D4 for video purposes.
I wonder if they’ll go back to two CF cards and dump XQqwydedvc or whatever that thing was called, lol?

Neopulse

The XQD is badass though. I use it exclusively on my friends D4. Got him the 32GB S-series 168mb/s. And we use just that one and it’s awesome. Although he does own some Lexar 800x cards. It just does it’s job well the XQD. It’s not a bad card. I guess it’s use would be more appropriate for like a higher MP camera with a small buffer or a high resolution recording.

broxibear

Logic suggests that if Nikon intended to carry on with the XQD then it would have been in the Df, but then again when does Nikon follow what’s logical ?
Look at the 58mm f/1.4, logic says there are other lenses people have been asking for so make those first, but instead they make an exotic, expensive lens that I’ve never heard anyone say “That’s the lens i’ve been waiting for.” ?
I think the 2014 winter Olympics start in the first week of February, maybe it’ll be announced before then…or if not some of the photographers will be using it there…but maybe I’m being too logical.

Neopulse

The Df doesn’t need a quick working card. It only takes pictures. Not video or ridiculous fast bursts like the flagships. An affordable SD card is just fine. Helps with space since the CF card slot isn’t exactly small.

The 58mm though I think was done to make a take on the Ais lens that was made even though the aperture is slightly smaller. I also think they killed 2 birds with one stone because they made a great portrait lens for the DX format by releasing it also. The lens you have been waiting for statement is quite harsh if you ask me. You know you are just one, maybe of many, but a huge group of workers can’t do something just to accommodate the desires of an individual. What lens were you hoping to get in the prime range?

broxibear

Hi Neopulse,
You misunderstood when I said “I’ve never heard anyone say “That’s the lens i’ve been waiting for.” ?”
What I mean is there are other lenses many Nikon users have been asking for that haven’t been made yet..not me personally, lol.

Neopulse

You’re right my mistake. What lens are you waiting for though?

broxibear

Hi Neopulse,
I wouldn’t say I was waiting for any lens as such, but a f/1.8 AFS version of my 24mm AFD f/2.8 would be nice…but I’m not complaining.

Neopulse

I dig that lens. Was reading an article about hyper focal distance shooting that showed that lens in particular being used. And how the AF scale has markers to help calculate the hyper focal distance. It’s pretty nifty that lens, I liked it. Although I think if you use it for landscape that lens and stopped down, I think buying the updated version of it wouldn’t be so necessary. Unless you were in it for the newer coatings and such.

broxibear

I’m a portrait and music photographer, it gets pretty dark backstage and the 24mm AFD does hunt a lot focusing compare to my AFS lenses. Looking at them side by side (same exp and lighting) the untouched files coming from my 50mm AFS f/1.8Ghave a different quality as far as tones, colour and sharpness are concerned. It’s one of those things that you don’t notice until you put it side by side, then it suddenly hits you why one lens is considered better than another.
On a few occasions I almost bought the 28mm AFS f/1.8G, but I do like the extra you get with 24mm…it may not sound much of a difference 4mm, but for my personal aesthetics and how I take images there is a difference.
Lenses are very personal things, one of the really annoying things I see all the time on forums and tutorials are people who describe lenses as “portrait lenses” or “street lenses”…They’re not, they’re just lenses and it’s up to you how you use them.
As I said I shouldn’t complain, it causes me pain when I think that the bit of glass I put to my eye to take pictures costs more money than a family earns in a year in many parts of the world….anyway.

Neopulse

Ah I see. I actually would’ve suggested the 28mm, but since you personally prefer the 24mm since it works for what you do then good job. Thought it was possibly a street photo walk around or landscape lens. It is a bit of a pain yeah at times knowing when things costs too much. When I go to Cuba, my Tissot watch is something they have never seen or heard of, and will NEVER afford even with their entire family income. It’s one of those things that you notice so you then realize you don’t take things for granted in life.

Spy Black

The 58mm is easily long enough to do FX portraiture. It would actually be a foolish investment for DX, as it’s engineered to be used straight out to the edges, that’s what you’re paying for in that lens. Sure, you could spend $1600 and slap it on a D7xxx, or you can get an 85mm f/1.8.

Neopulse

I’ve read people bitch about using the 85mm f/1.8 on a DX being too long and whatnot. I tried to get an Otus to slap it on a D5300 recently. Didn’t work out though :-/

Spy Black

There’s always the 60mm Micro-Nikkor. Although it’s a stop down, still relatively fast, and dual purpose, no less.

Neopulse

True…

http://nikonrumors.com/ Nikon Rumors

I do not know where he gets his info – maybe from NikonRumors. I just know that he has a direct connection with Nikon and if he breaks their NDA, he will never hear from them again and trust me he doesn’t want to do this. I have been reporting for a new D4 for months: http://nikonrumors.com/category/nikon-d4x/.

broxibear

What he’s doing is hinting at things, with the Df he was actually talking about the 58mm f/1.4, and he said something like ” This lens would work perfectly on the new…” then he stopped and said “Oh yeah, I cant talk about that yet”. He seems to know where the nda line is, the question is will being as close as he gets be seen as over it by Nikon ?
The not very subtle hint is that’ he’s seen the D4s and it’ll be announced in January.

Yeah, well it seems to go hand in hand with the winter Olympics which start on the 7th Feb I think.

http://nikonrumors.com/ Nikon Rumors

Yes, very good chance for a D4. Also I think that if I publish the Fro story on the blog, and it turns out he was right, Nikon will never call him again (they do read my blog, not sure if they watch his videos).

Neopulse

Let’s just keep it on a DL and cross our fingers.

Jeff Curtner

Nikon has been following both Summer and Winter Olympics for their pro body release schedule, starting from D1 (announced 1999 for Sydney 2000), D1h (2001, Salt Lake 2002), D2h (2003, Athens 2004), D2hs (2005, Turin 2005), D3 (2007, Beijing 2008), D3s (2009, Vancouver 2010), and D4 (2012, London 2012). Except this time when Sochi 2014 is 50 days away and there is still no D4s in sight or in rumor. You don’t expect photoj’s buying a bunch of brand new D4s a week before the event.

Canon on the other hand has not been able to release their sport pro bodies as rigid schedule as Nikon does and they seem to be about one year later than the Summer Olympics. However there is another major sport event for every four years and it’s exactly two years from each Summer Olympics: FIFA World Cup. FIFA Brasil 2014 is coming in June 2014. A D4s released three to four months prior to the event can still generate sales. The D4 was almost late for the London Olympics 2012 as it’s announced on January 2012 and on sales March. The London Olympics was held July 2012.

Jeff Curtner

It seems he is careful enough not to break the NDA. He said something like “that piece of paper sitting on my desk that I am supposed to sign so they can tell something”, “I don’t know what’s about”, “I don’t know which company is so I didn’t say any name”, etc. Pretty sure he is talking about a certain NDA with no detail or direct hinting.

http://nikonrumors.com/ Nikon Rumors

I think we had that discussion a while back – part of the NDA is that you cannot even say you are under NDA. I really don’t know – I have never been under NDA. But I agree that a new D4 in January-February is very possible, I just do not have any details/specs at that point.